Kimo’s Vegas

Adam Richman. Photo courtesy worldfoodschampionships.com

WELCOME TO Kimo’s Vegas … the Player’s Edge!

THE FIRST-EVER World Food Championships happens in Las Vegas Nov. 1-4. The Travel Channel’s Adam Richman (Man v. Food: Nation) will produce the event that will have amateurs and pro chefs competing for more than $250,000 and the rep-building title of World’s Best. Stay tuned for the official rules and complete qualifying process.

KIMO’S VEGAS TIP: Not all Vegas cabbies take credit cards … Those who do have a black disk that looks like a hockey puck on the roof over the shotgun seat.

FOR THE DAYS when you have time and don’t wanna spend the money, get a bus pass. If you buy one, allow a week or so for the postman to deliver it, or get one in Vegas at a TVM (Ticket Vending Machine). A two-hour AYCRP (All You Can Ride Pass) costs $5, 7 bucks buys you a 24-hour window and $20 gets you three days with like-minded individuals. BTW (second to the last acronym), hook up with the SDX (Strip, Downtown Express) to hit the malls and skip a bunch of stops.

BEFORE THERE WAS a Fremont Street Experience there were plans to build a life-size NCC1701. That’s the aircraft registration number of the USS Enterprise, but the idea was canned by the chairman of Paramount because he didn’t want the attraction to flop and be on display for decades … Better late than never, or how about a 1:1 scale Millennium Falcon?

THE 15TH ANNUAL May Day Polynesian Festival is going on at the Cal May 5 and 6. Gary Haleamau and Kawili, Na Palapalai and Kupaoa concertize in the Ohana Room Saturday. Save a little kala and buy your tickets in advance for $20 at the B Connected desk, or call (702) 388-2705. The annual “Island Fever Block Party” with music by Na Hokupa happens Sunday.

VEGAS NUMBERS … The freshly minted 2011 Las Vegas Visitor Profile Study says the average visitor spent less than $448 in the casino, and although that’s up from the year before ($466), folks are spending less on shopping ($129) drinking and eating ($275).

THE EA SPORTS BAR is now open at the Cosmopolitan and, of course, it features the company’s PS3 games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 and Madden NFL 12 in comfy living room-style areas …

SPEAKIN’ OF THE Cosmo, its buffet has da besses pistachio gelato …

OVERHEARD IN VEGAS: “The good ole days … I remember when you made a phone call and if no one was home the phone didn’t answer.”

TOWER OF POWER … What is hip? The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project hopes to provide 110 megawatts of electricity to more than 75,000 Las Vegas homes … Using a 540-foot tower of molten salt storage, 10,000 heliostats (billboardsized sun-tracking mirrors) and a flux capacitor … OK, just kidding about the last part.

FOLLOW US on Twitter, like us on Facebook and get the latest Vegas news online at KimosVegas.com and every week here in MidWeek. Send your Vegas questions, mana’o, photos and reunions to Kimo@KimosVegas.com.